UFC on Fox 4 weigh-in: Paths cross again for Shogun, Machida in Los Angeles

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 | 6 p.m.

LOS ANGELES — The last time Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Lyoto Machida weighed in at the Staples Center, it was before they fought each other for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 104.

A lot has changed in the 34 months since that meeting, which resulted in a controversial unanimous-decision win for Machida and, ultimately, a rematch in which Shogun proved victorious. But so much also seemed the same when the two tipped the scales Friday afternoon downtown in the city of angels.

Machida (201) and Rua (205) are once again competing against each other, albeit indirectly, tomorrow in the headlining matches of UFC on FOX 4. The two former champions are heavily favored in their respective fights, and whoever wins more impressively will earn another shot for the light heavyweight belt.

“I am getting back on the road to the title,” Machida said earlier this week. “I know what I have to do, and I am ready for this opportunity.”

Machida will have to outdo the winner of the main event between Rua and Brandon Vera (203.8) to earn the championship bout. One of the four fighters will eventually get a matchup with the winner of the UFC 151 main event between Jon Jones and Dan Henderson, scheduled for Sept 1 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Henderson, who was on hand for a fan Q&A before the weigh-in, feels insulted by all the talk surrounding UFC on Fox 4.

“According to everyone else, it’s supposed to be Jon Jones’ next fight,” said Henderson, who could foil those plans with an upset. “But I’d say the guy with the more experience is probably who I’d be leaning towards with Shogun and Machida.”

Aside from Henderson’s perceived slight, Machida and Rua are known as respectful competitors. Their stare-down poses with their opponents, not surprisingly, were uneventful as everyone kept their distance and shook hands.

It went the same way for the other eight fights on the card. There was no suspense, as none of the 20 fighters came close to missing weight.

The thing that drew the most attention, in fact, may have been UFC President Dana White’s T-shirt. White wore a shirt that had a picture of Ronda Rousey’s ESPN The Magazine Body Issue cover.

The crowd gave arguably its warmest response of the afternoon when Rousey, Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, accompanied training partner Manvel Gamburyan to the scale. Gamburyan (145.5) meets fellow veteran Michihiro Omigawa (145.5) in the second bout of the evening, which airs as part of the preliminary card on FUEL TV starting at 2. The main card on Fox starts at 5.

Check below for full results from the UFC on Fox 4 weigh-in.

Light heavyweight bout: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (205) vs. Brandon Vera (203.8)

Light heavyweight bout: Lyoto Machida (201) vs. Ryan Bader (205)

Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon (155.8) vs. Jamie Varner (156)

Welterweight bout: Mike Swick (170) vs. DaMarques Johnson (171)

Featherweight bout: Cole Miller (145) vs. Nam Phan (145)

Light heavyweight bout: Phil Davis (205.5) vs. Wagner Prado (205)

Featherweight bout: Josh Grispi (146) vs. Rani Yahya (145.5)

Heavyweight bout: Phil De Fries (235) vs. Oli Thompson (232)

Featherweight bout: Manvel Gamburyan (145.5) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (145.5)

Flyweight bout: Ulysses Gomez (125.5) vs. John Moraga (125.5)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.